Google Custom Search – Overlooked?

Google Custom Search is a very much overlooked method of making money. Niche site builders are so intent on making money from AdSense that they tend to forget that Google has more products than just those ad blocks we see on just about every site on the web. Google Custom Search can be implemented easily into a page, and to be fair – has even more scope.

The whole internet community is driven by just one page when they log on to the web – a search page. They search for things because that’s the easiest way of finding it. You wouldn’t go browsing the World Wide Web, with its estimated 110 million websites, would you? Or try to find what you wanted alphabetically. Nope. You use a search engine, like Yahoo! or Google, or Bing.

So, once you have searched for the thing you are looking for, and click a link on the search results. Suppose you land on a site that is dedicated to the niche you are looking for. The title of the website is “Widget Directory and Search”, because you are looking for a particular ‘widget’. There, in the middle of the page, is a search box (powered by Big G). Once you search, a set of sponsored results appear – and sure enough, a website that is relevant to your search is at the top of the results. What just happened? The website owner just got paid for that click.

So, you just need to have some out of the box thinking on this one, and look for very specific niches, or holes in niches. For example, if you were promoting an “asbestos lawyer” site on Google for the AdSense revenue – then you would be likely to give up after a week. It’s nigh on impossible to find a keyword that you can compete on Google with. However – add “find” or “locate” to your keyword modifier list, and it gets easier.

A great example is “find a good lawyer”, which has one or two spots on page one available, and opens you up to hundreds of dollars in AdSense revenue, for the people that would be searching your site for a good lawyer.

You can find out more about creating a Custom Search portal here, on Google.com. Try to think about niches that have a lot of people searching for information, or collating lots of searches. For example, car review searches, household product review searches etc. The more out of the box you get – the better the money is.

Google Custom Search is a very much overlooked method of making money. Niche site builders are so intent on making money from AdSense that they tend to forget that Google has more products than just those ad blocks we see on just about every site on the web. Google Custom Search can be implemented easily into a page, and to be fair – has even more scope. The whole internet community is driven by just one page when they log on to the web – a search page. They search for things because that’s the easiest way of finding it. You wouldn’t go browsing the World Wide Web, with its estimated 110 million websites, would you? Or try to find what you wanted alphabetically. Nope. You use a search engine, like Yahoo! or Google, or Bing.

So, once you have searched for the thing you are looking for, and click a link on the search results. Suppose you land on a site that is dedicated to the niche you are looking for. The title of the website is “Widget Directory and Search”, because you are looking for a particular ‘widget’. There, in the middle of the page, is a search box (powered by Big G). Once you search, a set of sponsored results appear – and sure enough, a website that is relevant to your search is at the top of the results. What just happened? The website owner just got paid for that click.

So, you just need to have some out of the box thinking on this one, and look for very specific niches, or holes in niches. For example, if you were promoting an “asbestos lawyer” site on Google for the AdSense revenue – then you would be likely to give up after a week. It’s nigh on impossible to find a keyword that you can compete on Google with. However – add “find” or “locate” to your keyword modifier list, and it gets easier.

A great example is “find a good lawyer”, which has one or two spots on page one available, and opens you up to hundreds of dollars in AdSense revenue, for the people that would be searching your site for a good lawyer.

You can find out more about creating a Custom Search portal here, on Google.com. Try to think about niches that have a lot of people searching for information, or collating lots of searches. For example, car review searches, household product review searches etc. The more out of the box you get – the better the money is.

About Sean Donahoe

Sean is one of the most recognized industry leaders in business and marketing. As a popular speaker, author, consultant he has helped over 50,000 students world wide find success in their businesses and has consulted with Fortune 500 companies and businesses of every size grow and thrive...